Chinese coach Kong wants overwhelming odds over Japan

WUXI, East China, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Table tennis grand slam winner Kong Linghui, now head coach of the Chinese women's team, sang high praise for Japan's promising paddlers here on Tuesday but believed there's no chance for them to beat China.

The women's Asian championships squad of China, under the guidance of the 41-year-old Kong who led the team to another clean sweep at last year's Rio Olympic Games, beat the Japanese teenage trio in three straight games to lift trophy of the continental tournament.

"It has been normal for years in table tennis to see China and Japan vie for the women's championships against each other," said Kong.

"There're some intense moments in today's final encounter, but we took full control of the game after all."

Four-time World Cup winner Liu Shiwen opened the match in style though letting go the second set to Miu Hirano, and world No. 1 and Grand Slam winner Ding Ning followed up to beat Mima Ito 3-0 before the 2nd-ranked Zhu Yuling won 3-1 over Hina Hayata to secure a top podium finish.

"All three Japanese are just 17 years old," commented Kong. "They are young but experienced. With talents like these, Japan could be our main rivals for a long time."

"We were warned that Japan could be really ambitious at the 2020 Olympic Games as the hosts. However, we are not afraid of them.

"From what we can see right now, the Chinese women's team holds an incomparable upper hand, and what we need to do in coming years is just to win every match against the Japanese and to keep mental advantage.

"Yes, I'm not afraid to say that the odds are on us and our advantage is overwhelming," he said.

In the last four years, the Chinese women's team has won every match against Japan, including that at the world championships and Olympic Games.